You know I was having a conversation with a friend from Japan and he seems to think that Kubricks in general are on a decline. His take that Medicom is making less and less but he also reports the demand is high. I have to admit that i am a bit worried witht he status of the line.

i love the kubricks line and i know the demand is still there. it seems more like medicom is focusing in on other products (VCD, RAH, etc) that this line that we all love has taken the backseat. it's really sad walking into my comic book shop and seeing no kubricks, but seeing tons of dunnys and other imported mini figures untouched and collecting dust. there is no kubricks in site at any of those stores. kubricks used to be plentiful around these parts and would sell very well. the comic book shops never even got an assortment of Star Wars Series 7 kubricks (which the SW line was by far their biggest seller). i had to resort to the internet to buy a box of 12.

i love the kubricks line and i know the demand is still there. it seems more like medicom is focusing in on other products (VCD, RAH, etc) that this line that we all love has taken the backseat. it's really sad walking into my comic book shop and seeing no kubricks, but seeing tons of dunnys and other imported mini figures untouched and collecting dust. there is no kubricks in site at any of those stores. kubricks used to be plentiful around these parts and would sell very well. the comic book shops never even got an assortment of Star Wars Series 7 kubricks (which the SW line was by far their biggest seller). i had to resort to the internet to buy a box of 12.

Not that I have seen any lost interest from other MN Kubie collectors, but what do you guys think about the impact exclusives have had on this line? Have the kept people interested in the off chance that they can find the varient figures or are they a barrier for completists who refuse to spend +$100 for the rarer figures?

I collect just the common figs and a few of the cheaper, more common variants, but I would definitely have bought all of the figures if they were priced more reasonably.

I've never had a problem with the chase figures or exclusives really. This is a small, niche market product aimed at Japan/Hong Kong, not a Hasbro let's sell billions kind of product. It's been harder to get from the start, so remaining that way is fine with me.

As for the chase figures, I'm no longer a big fan of them from any line, but at least I can appreciate the way Medicom does it with blind packaging so as long as you're buying something sealed, you have a shot. These are meant to be bought singly in stores and hopefully stores don't document the openings the way they get done on this board, so if you're Joe average consumer in Japan, you've got a shot. This as opposed to Hasbro's approach of making the stuff damn near glow in the dark so the ebay crowd knows precisely what to pick up.

I like having the high priced stuff, it sets my collection apart from the average Kubrick collection.

Exclusives had a big impact on collectors. I think they alienated collectors in the early goings with that early bird kit because they made core characters as exclusives. Not to have a Chewbacca or R2D2 in a Star Wars collection is a travesty. I'm not a completist by any means, but spending $100 on a 2" plastic figure is absolutely crazy, no amount of detail in those Kubs could ever make me spend $100 or more on one single Kubrick. I think alot of other collectors felt the same. I had a pair of my friends that were really into Star Wars Kubricks with me, but prices to complete the sets became more unreasonable as the years went by.

I realize that Medicom isn't Hasbro where they are pumping out figure after figure and this kind of line is niche. But collectors from the same niche have different buying habits. Some collectors will shell out the $100+ for the chase figure to complete the set. Then you have collectors on the other end of the spectrum, that only purchase figures that are reasonably priced and understand the niche that the line essentially carries.

I think with an exclusive or chase figure it works both ways. Its brings some collector's in more and drives others out. In the end i think it balances out. I personally like variants and chase figures. I even like exclusives (not regional ones like con exclusives, no problem with store exclusives though).

Here's the funny part though - Mediacom doesn't make $100 on their varient figs. They make fewer of them and sell them at essentially the same price as all the other figures via a case price. Its the folks that resell the rarer piees on the secondary market that make the big bucks on variants. So what I don't get is, why would Mediacom not just make the same number of all figures and capitalize on selling a lot more of the rarer figs? Or do you think they keep some of the rare ones and sell them for more money on Ebay?